Too Faced A La Mode Eye Palette Swatches & First Impressions

Here are the initial swatches and first impressions for the new Too Faced A La Mode eye palette. I want some time to do a comprehensive review, but you know I just had to whip it out and get a feel for it.

The packaging is super cute and the eye shadows are held in a cute little tin. The palette is roughly the size of my iphone, but the palette is a little wider. The palette itself is 9 eye shadows, and the little booklet that comes with the palette stresses: 3 steps, 3 looks, 3 minutes. I will definitely be timing it in my more in depth review.

First impressions after doing the swatches is that the colors are totally gorgeous. Their are mattes, pearls, and shimmers, so it is a perfect variety. I also love that there a neutrals and brights so you have plenty to work with. When swatching the colors I noticed that a few of the colors (the mattes) were a bit chalky, while the pearls and shimmers felt like velvet. It's a bit unfortunate that the darkest/brightest colors are the mattes because there is a bit of a skip in them.

First row L to R: St. Tropez, Cannes, and Soleil
Second row L to R: Riviera, Jardin, and Cote d' Azur
Third row L to R: La Croisette, Monaco,  and De La Mer

After the swatches I definitely noticed which colors stand out to me. All the neutrals are just amazing, and the mattes (pink/navy) are sub par swatched. I have no idea how they will apply to the eye, so I will update you guys when I do a more in depth review.

Until next time... <3

-Sam

Pinch Me Anyway... St. Patrick's Day Makeup Looks

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! I am a sucker for any sort of holiday, even those that I have no business celebrating. In America we over commercialize every holiday, and St. Patty's is under no exception. I'm not Irish at all, not even 1/8 Irish, but St. Patrick's Day is about religion and a priest, not leprechauns, green beer, and corned beef and cabbage.

Let me just drop some history on y'all right quick. St. Patrick wasn't even Irish, he was born in Britain, was later sold into slavery and brought to Ireland. He later became a priest after spending many years hiding away in a monastery. He is coined with establishing a religious system in Rome and starting the Christian Church in Ireland. He did not rid Ireland of snakes, nor did he hang with leprechauns, in fact the official color of St. Patrick's day is actually blue, not green. Literally everything associated with St. Patrick's Day started in America, and has absolutely nothing to do with the name-sake of the holiday or country of Ireland.

Hope I didn't bore you too much with that knowledge bomb but some things need to be said. Regardless, I love St. Patrick's Day in America because my favorite color is green, I love rainbows, leprechauns, green beer, and corned beef and cabbage. So any excuse to paint my eyeballs green, throw on some green and gold beads and get Irish wasted is pretty much right up my alley.

I kept my look simple because I will be out in public for the day, and I don't want people staring at me any more than usual. I did however think of drawing a pot of gold on one lid and doing some sort of rainbow mask type thing to connect my eyes, but in the end I said to myself : Keep it simple, yo!

SHOW ME THE MAKEUP YA BONY LASS

I primed my lids with Too Faced Candlelight eye-primer and patted on Nymph by Dark Heart Designs. In the crease I used Fairytale by Dark Heart Designs. To highlight my inner corner, I used Dark Heart Designs eye shadow in Jadis. I applied foundation (Benefit Hello Flawless), Bronzer (Too Faced Chocolate Soleil), and Dark Heart Designs Blush in Summertime Sadness.For the Brows I used Anastasia DipBrow in Blonde. I then curled my lashes, and used Kat Von D Mascara. My lips are Dark Heart Designs Sophia Lipstick with Urban Decay Honey Pot Gloss over top to boost the shine.

To boost your look, I recommend contouring your cheek bones, forehead (near hairline), jawline, and sides of your nose and highlighting your forehead, bridge of the nose, cupids bow, tops of your cheeks and chin. All I do to contour is use bronzer. For the highlight I use Girl Meets Pearl by Benefit and Anna Sui Mystic Rose.








To finish off the look, make sure you wear your favorite green ensemble, and accessorize with mardi gras beads. Voila, you're ready to drink green beer with the best of them.

As a bonus, my best friend Alexis let me do her makeup, which was nice because I need to practice on other people's faces. It is so hard to do other people's makeup by the way, unless their face is the same face as yours lol

I used all Dark Heart Designs products for hers as well. I need more practice, but it was so nice of her to let me draw on her for a while. Thanks boo!

Until next time, be safe, have fun, and taste the rainbow!

<3

Rimmel Show Off Lip Lacquer Swatches & Review

I am a sucker for a good lip. Other than brows, I think a good lip can really make or break a look. For that reason, I horde lip products like no other. I probably own 500 lipsticks/glosses/balms, in fact I collect them for some odd reason. I received two of these Rimmel lip lacquers as a prize from an Influenster badge I completed. If you aren't sure what Influenster is, to sum it up = you do surveys and reviews, and the company sends you products for free to review and post about. The more in depth your reviews, the more you can qualify for something called a voxbox which contains a bunch of freebies. Every so often a brand will offer brand prizes which means if you complete everything that's asked, they will send you a box full of product. It's awesome, and if you would like to join shoot me a message on my fb page and I can send you an invite.

TO THE REVIEW BATMAN!

After I swatched the two I received as a prize, I immediately (IMMEDIATELY) went to Walgreens and bought every single one that I liked at first glance, which is all but 2 of them lol So today we are going to be reviewing 10 of these babies. I bought so many because they were all 50% off so it only cost me roughly $2.50 per tube, which is insane in the membrane.

Left to Right: Celestial, Big Bang, Stargazer, Nude Eclipse, Luna, Nova, Out of This World, Galaxy, Apocaliptic, and Stellar

One of the best things about these babies is the brush. It is kind of oddly shaped, but it allows you to draw your lips on to perfection. I noticed that it was so precise that I could even outline my lips like a lip liner, and then fill them in with no problems. I don't own a lip wand that is like this, but I really liked it a lot.

Top Row: Celestial, Big Bang, Stargazer, Nude Eclipse, Luna
Bottom Row: Nova, Out of This World, Galaxy, Apocaliptic, and Stellar

As you can see from the initial swatches, the product is thick and it is very pigmented. Remember, I got these for $2.50 each and even at their normal price of less than 5$ a piece, that is insane. I have some lipstick from benefit, mac, and tarte, and even urban decay that don't swatch as nicely as this. You can probably tell now why I got in the car and hauled to Walgreens so quickly!! There are other colors, but they just didn't look like something I would ever wear. These colors are ones at first glance that I liked without being able to swatch or test them. 8/10 were purchased from my own pocket, and all swatches were done without the help of a primer or liner.

ALL OF THESE LIPPIES ARE NON STICKY, SMELL LIKE WATERMELON, AND ALL BUT ONE HAVE EXCELLENT PIGMENTATION

SHOW ME THE GOODS

Celestial is a dusty rose, mauve pink color. It is absolutely gorgeous, and I can see myself wearing this everyday because it is pretty close to my natural lip color.Out of all of the colors I got this is one of my favorites.

Big Bang is definitely a great name for this lipstick. It is a loud, in yo face kind of red. It looks a bit darker in the tube, but with my skin tone it is a bright red/orange neon. I tend to go for more blue toned red than orange toned, but I actually really like this. The pigmentation is insane, and it feels so good on your lips. If you are into bright colors, this is a great red for you to have in your arsenal.

Stargazer is one of those colors that you see in the tube and are fascinated with but when you put it on your lips you realize that you look straight up ridiculous lol Out of all of them, it is my least favorite and the pigmentation is just not there. I think that on a darker skin tone this color would be fabulous, but for me it looks like goldmember.

Nude Eclipse is a really pretty soft golden/beige nude. I am not a big fan of golden nudes, but this is actually workable with my skin tone. Fair toned skin doesn't look great with a golden lip because it washes out your face, however, I don't think that this color is awful with my skin tone. 

Luna is one of those colors that I really don't know if I like. I don't do many orange colors for the same reasons above (skin tone issues), but I think this would be a really pretty color for summer. It's bright, but not too loud, and if you apply less it would be a nice peachy nude. It's different, but in a good way.

Nova is gorgeous. It's a muted pink, and its similar to celestial, but a little more opaque. I like it because it is just a few shades lighter than my actual lip color, so it blends really well. I really like this color, and I will wear this often. Its a perfect pink. 

Out of This World is a soft pink color with a bit of a shimmer built into it. The next color, Galaxy is basically the same color but just a tad bit darker. When you look at the pictures, it is hard to tell the difference. I like both of them, but I hate when companies make copies, it just shows a lack of creativity.

Galaxy is a mixture of a wine/plum and pink. It is an interesting color because it looks way lighter in the tube than it does on my lips. It was a surprise, but I really like it. I love a deep cranberry/wine color, and this delivers. It also have a bit of a sparkle to it which is always nice. Who doesn't love glitter!

Apocaliptic ( I love the name!) Is a beautiful pink/red color. It is bright and gorgeous. I love the mixture of red to pink and it has a bit of shift too it. Its pink in the sun and a bright red in the shade. I like that all of these lipsticks can be toned down depending on the amount you apply. You can easily dab a bit of this on your lips and create a subtle flush, or really go for it and make them lips pop!

Stellar is a super bright red/pink. It is similar to Apocaliptic but it is a lot more red than pink. Its definitely an in your face color, but I love it.

All of these colors are worth scooping up but my favorites are pretty clear. I love Celestial, Nova, Galaxy, Apocaliptic, and Stellar. You cannot beat the price and the formula is really nice. I wore all of these for a while, and the wear is average. Over an 8 hour period, I applied three times, which isn't awful but I feel like most people apply their lipstick that much anyway. I always apply initially, after I eat something, and then a few hours later or before I go out again or whatever. The tubes are not that huge so it won't take up that much room, and the pigmentation is so concentrated that you really don't need too much.

Check them out, and if you do, let me know what you think!

Have you used these? What do you think of them?

Until next time,

Sam

XO